Second U.S. winter storm forces hundreds of flight cancellations

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A second winter storm in as many weeks is causing hundreds of flight cancellations across the United States, airlines reported on Tuesday, potentially dealing a further blow to carriers’ first quarter outlooks.

As the storm sweeps across southeast Texas and up the East Coast dumping snow, sleet and freezing rain, airlines have already cancelled flights into Wednesday in anticipation of difficult conditions.

American Airlines (AAL.O), the world’s largest airline by passenger traffic, had cancelled some 270 flights between Tuesday and Wednesday as a result of the storm, it said.

Rival Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), the No. 2 U.S. carrier by passenger traffic, said it had cancelled about 275 Tuesday flights and expected additional cancellations in New York and Boston as the storm tracked north.

The third-largest U.S. carrier, United Airlines (UAL.N), said it had cancelled more than 700 flights on Tuesday. United was offering to waive fees for changes to flights to and from Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other affected airports for scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday flights.

The storm itself is relatively minor compared to other winter weather events, and several hundred flights represent only a tiny percentage of airlines’ overall operations. But such storms are still a nuisance to carriers and can cost them millions of dollars in lost revenue.

A massive winter storm at the onset of the year caused thousands of cancellations, as several inches of snow and ice paralysed the U.S. Northeast and forced the closure of some of the region’s biggest airports.